Well it's a done deal! However I am going to have to be in on the layout of the template on the stone. I reserved enough stone for my island and they have that set aside but have only ONE slab left. And that one has a 2 x 4 ft chunk out of it. There were at least ten from this lot left in January. So...I guess it will be what it is. Beth, I know, that small piece is a chunk out of the lighter part of the slab and in the lighting in the LR it looks much lighter. I do love the swirls of the darker gray however and on the last slab its going to be touchy getting it not to look like a black and white cookie ;) The lighter parts have a little tan color and it just looks dirty, so... Anyway thanks again for cheering me on and I am so glad to have made the decision. With GW help! They should have it installed by the end of the month so I will post pics when its all finished.

Everyone, Once again thank you for all your very helpful comments that you gave me this past May. As "heating" season is going to start soon here in the Northeast, I will be again relying on my gas boiler again. Since the last posting here, I had a professional come out here to clean & inspect the boiler, double check the chimney (he stuck a mirror into it and we both saw daylight) and he proclaimed the unit in perfect working condition. The Pro did advise me on two things that I wish to run by you all for further opinion, lf you don't mind. 1) The Pro advised (he has over 30 years of experience) that I should get a "better quality" spill switch than the one that I currently am using. The one I have (and already changed 2 times) is the one that is made specifically for this unit (rated at 210F): http://www.supplyhouse.com/Weil-McLain-510-300-013-Spill-Switch-w-Reset-210-F He said I should get a better quality one made by Field Controls, something like: http://www.supplyhouse.com/Field-Controls-GSK-4-200-Gas-Spillage-Sensing-Switch-w-Manual-Reset or even http://www.supplyhouse.com/Field-Controls-FTS-6-180-Safety-Switch-w-Manual-Reset-120-240V Now, my question is this: Since my Weil-McLain EG-45 SPDN unit is rated at 210F, and I will put a spill switch that is 200F or even 180F rated, is that okay? The Pro did confirm that my existing spill-switch location is in the right spot and that I do not need two of them for my type of a unit. 2) As far as the Vent-Damper (to remind, I installed a brand new one last winter, made by Field Controls). The Pro said that he would just leave it in MANUAL mode. When I asked him about the danger of having "bad gasses" leakage into the house, he stated that the boiler will shut itself off as there are other protection sensors there and that this AUTO function is now included into the Vent-Dampers more for better efficiency of the unit than for safety. Is he right? I should also add: a) I do have a 4" clean-air going into the boiler room directly from the street (boiler room being a closed-off section with 2 doors, with two return 20 inches x 8 inches ventilation grille's that have the air escape into the rest of the basement). The actual room measures 6 feet long x 7 feet wide x 8 feet high and only contains the gas hot water heater and the gas boiler. b) On the advice of the Pro, I tried turning on the heat (via my Thermostat) a number of times during the summer's hot & humid days (it was like 80F in the room, so I had to set the Thermostat manually to 82F). The unit started-up every time without problems and I let it work for 5 mins or so before turning it off. The Pro said that during the very humid days that the heavy air that gets trapped in the chimney could force the Vent-Damp to trigger the spill switch. It never did. I await your comments. Thank you again in advance for your time and knowledge.

I am so glad I found this post. I posted a new topic this morning and it showed up immediately. Not as the top post, but under one that was posted earlier. I commented on another post and then went back to see if I had an answer, and couldn't find my post at all. I waited a bit, refreshed, and still no post. I could only find it through my profile. I couldn't find any FAQ type thing that posts would be moderated until there were a certain number of posts, so I posted again and it didn't show up either. This is very frustrating.

I noticed today, the herd I brought back from Daytona Beach is growing wee leaves!!